A Series of Simultaneously Serious and Silly Inquiries

Does she remember that, in the first movie, Rocky still lost to the black guy?

Hillary: “No-no-no! I’m, uh, no, I’m Rocky in Rocky 2! Or Rocky 3! Yeah, Obama is Clubber Lang! He killed Burgess Meredith! That’s what I meant! Was that not clear?”

Just a thought: maybe we shouldn’t be comparing politics to pop culture. But I suppose it’s hard when CNN treats Super Tuesday like it’s a monster truck rally (“Monster Tuesday! All the big hitters! Up to the second results! KABOOM!”), and political strategists like to turn nifty sound-bite phrases like “Obama’s preaching the audacity of nope“. Oh, snap! Politics have always been about theater, I understand. Hell, during the election of 1800, thanks to a fragmented, regional press, it was reported that candidate Thomas Jefferson was FUCKING DEAD. And how can you vote for a dead man, I ask you, John McCain voters? (cheap shot!)

But politics haven’t always been as watered down or treated like entertainment. Don’t we want someone in the office who’s going to elevate our level of thinking, not talk down to us? Shouldn’t we be treating the political process with more respect, and taking it on its own terms? If we constantly try to create a narrative out of it, well, in order for a narrative to work you need conflict, and we end up infusing the whole thing with “fights” that may not (and should not) be there. Clinton and Obama are in the same party, for the love of John. Why does she feel the constant need to take him down, or call herself the underdog, as opposed to just espousing her own ideals? Why does she, or anyone, feel the need to re-create herself as a character as opposed to a candidate? Why do we have such a thirst for narrative in our politics? Is it as simple as that’s what allows us to understand a complicated process? Or is a narrative just the inevitable and unavoidable way we interact with anything shown on television?

By the way, in case you were wondering if Obama responded to this Rocky reference: he did, by reminding the world that Rocky is a MOVIE.

Oh yeah, and do you think Hillary remembers that after losing to the black guy, Rocky kissed a girl? That would make a great ending to her campaign… just as the music swells and the credits roll.